So said Victor Tovar, the horseshoe inspector at Del Mar who long ago accepted the pain as just another part of the job.

"I served in Vietnam, came back and could've gone anywhere else," said Tovar, who has been in the thoroughbred business since he was 10, when he started hot-walking and grooming horses at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana.

Now 66, Tovar has been inspecting horseshoes for the last 13 years. He's been kicked, gotten an infection, sustained too many bumps and bruises to count.

At Del Mar, he essentially represents the first checkpoint for race entrants. Each horse is led to the receiving barn. There, Tovar lifts one of the horse's front legs, knocks off the dirt with a hoof pick and examines the plating of the horseshoe. He does the same with a hind leg, then reports his findings to the paddock judge.

If a horse is not properly shod, Tovar will try to make the necessary changes, although he's on a tight schedule -- the horses in the next race will soon arrive.

"Hopefully everyone will come with the right shoes and I don't have to worry about it," Tovar said with a smile, knowing better.